Examining Trends in Dermatology Publications: A 10-Year Follow-up

Examining trends in adult and pediatric dermatology publications by Mimouni et al for 15 years (1993–2007) showed that there was a higher yearly increase in articles with higher level of evidence such as clinical and randomized controlled trials with a slower rise in articles with a lower level of evidence such as letters and case reports.1 We wanted to see if trends in dermatology research have differed over the following 10 years (2008–2017).

We used the methodology of Mimouni et al to find the total number and categorization of publications in adult and pediatric dermatology from 2008 to 2017. We used MEDLINE to search the terms ‘skin’ AND ‘disease’ OR ‘dermatology’ for adults and pediatrics. A regression analysis (SAS 9.4) was used to understand the change in frequency across the years.

By analyzing publications from 2008 to 2017, speculations mentioned in Mimouni et al held true regarding the statistically significant increase in total number of publications in addition to meta-analyses and practice guidelines, which was not shown in the 1993–2007 analysis. The statistically significant increase previously mentioned in clinical trials, case reports, and pediatric randomized controlled trials was lost in the 2008-2017 data.

Trends in pediatric and adult dermatology publications in 2008–2017 differ from those identified in 1993–2007. There is a new significant increase in higher level of evidence not reported previously such as meta-analyses and practice guidelines. This is good for dermatology, and we hope the trend continues to further the specialty. J Drugs Dermatol. 2021;20(11)1248-1251. doi:10.36849/JDD.6088.